The Harper government won’t buy into the “hype” surrounding the Copenhagen climate summit to rush into a new deal, said Environment Minister Jim Prentice on Friday.

In a lunchtime speech delivered to Montreal business leaders, Mr. Prentice said Canada won’t agree to anything at this month’s international conference just for the sake of saying it is taking action.

“There’s always a lot of hype and drama that gets built into this sort of international event, much of it intended to force the hand of participants,” Mr. Prentice said in the prepared speech. “We aren’t going to buy into that. We are not going to panic. We are confident about the actions we are taking on the domestic and the continental fronts.”

Although opposition parties, environmental groups and scientists have suggested that Prentice’s goal of reducing Canada’s emissions roughly to 1990 levels by 2020 is too weak, he said that any drastic changes to that plan could damage the economy since the United States has adopted a similar target.

“If we do more than the U.S., we will suffer economic pain for no real environmental gain -- economic pain that could impede our ability to invest in new, clean technologies and other innovative solutions to climate change,” Prentice said. “But if we do less, we will risk facing new border barriers into the American market.”

Several Canadian provinces, have announced their own targets that go beyond the U.S. target. Quebec, which pledged to reduce emissions by 20%, was even praised by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for showing leadership in its own climate change plan.

Mr. Prentice indicated that a political agreement could be achieved at the Copenhagen conference, which begins next week, that would eventually lead to a new treaty to take effect after the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

“Make no mistake,” Mr. Prentice said. “We absolutely understand the urgency around environmental issues — and I make a practice of meeting regularly with Canadian companies, associations and ENGOs [environmental groups] who share that desire to move forward boldly.”

The Kyoto agreement was the first legally binding treaty that forced industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels through domestic measures or investments in projects abroad that reduce pollution.

Under the Harper government, Canada announced that it would not try to meet its commitment to reduce emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. Instead, its emissions are about 30% above that target.

Prentice has not yet introduced a framework or regulations to cap pollution from industrial facilities, but indicated earlier this week that they would be expected to make absolute reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions.